Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December. It
commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly
adopted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Many years have passed and unfortunately there is still a
long way ahead to guarantee the fundamental freedoms and protect the human
rights of all. However, it also has to be said that there are many
organisms and individuals who are working hard to collaborate to protect human
rights. Today I would like to write about one of these individuals. Her name is
Benedetta Berti. She is a foreign policy and
security researcher, analyst, consultant, author and lecturer. Her work focuses
on human security and internal conflicts, as well as on post-conflict
stabilization/consolidation (specifically integration of armed groups,
democracy/governance and crisis management and prevention).
Today I would like to share one of her video lessons
to start analyzing the complexity of this issue with students. In less
than five minutes, Benedetta offers an accurate insight into the limits of the
current mechanisms that aim at protecting human rights. She also highlights the
need to update the existing mechanisms if we want to preserve human
rights in the current digital world we live in.
Therefore, I reckon it would be worthwhile spending five minutes on viewing the video above with students and I suggest fostering students' discussion after viewing it. I hope you will find this lesson plan useful.
Therefore, I reckon it would be worthwhile spending five minutes on viewing the video above with students and I suggest fostering students' discussion after viewing it. I hope you will find this lesson plan useful.
My second proposal for classroom use is based on
"Blowing in the wind" by Bob Dylan. Composed in 1963, its
message is very much alive in 2015. The song includes a string of
provoking questions to make us aware of the fact that the largest cause of
human rights violations is mental disconnection from the reality that
affects others: "how many times can a man turn his head, and
pretend that he just doesn't see?"
You can find a simple activity to carry out while students
listen to the song here.
Finally, I would like to suggest some other sources that
include plenty of resources for classroom use:
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